


Afraid of time

by Noni_Gailin_Ayrenin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Interstellar - Freeform, Langst, My First AO3 Post, Other, POV First Person, POV Third Person Omniscient, POV switch, Please be gentle, Squint and you might see it, The Klance is V background, but it's ok, inspired by Interstellar, lance is a sad bby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-16
Updated: 2017-08-16
Packaged: 2018-12-16 05:01:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11821755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Noni_Gailin_Ayrenin/pseuds/Noni_Gailin_Ayrenin
Summary: Between Saving the universe and bonding as a team, has anyone kept track of the time? How much time has passed since the Paladins left earth, and how does one cope with not knowing?





	Afraid of time

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first posted work here; please be gentle on me.  
> I wrote this while listening to the Interstellar music and man, if that movie isn't one big existential crisis. xD
> 
> Anyway, notes for the Story are that It does switch points of view. We start of in Lance's head, and the dashed line breaks the story into 3rd person Om. from there. Those who read it said this wasn't confusing, but I don't see the harm in mentioning it anyway, hm?

I don't know how I ended up in this room again. Everything had been fine, hunk was talking about some food he liked......And I just...Stood up and my feet carried me here. That's it. He was talking about something from home. Hah....How bad off am I these days that even the mention of a 'home' food sends me here? Staring at a map I can barely read, trying to catch even a small glimpse of that little blue and green ball in the void.

The map changes to often. Planets being eaten by Weblums, Becoming Galra territory, or even just reaching the ends of their lives as their suns expand and devour them. New solar systems and galaxies formed in the dust of what once was; giving life to new planets and races of people. Things change to much. To fast. I can't keep up long enough to know where I've 'been'. I can't find home on this stupid thing.

"Lance?" I turned to see Coran. He often came to find me, down here. "Oh hey....I um......I flaked out at dinner. Sorry." I sighed and turned to face the open map again. "That's quite alright, Lance. I know hearing about home is hard for you. But.....So long as you're a part of Voltron, I'm afraid going home just isn't on the to-do list." Coran had come to stand beside me, looking up into the map as well now. "How long have we been out here?" I asked, more to the room than anyone. A thoughtful look appeared on Coran's face, before he replied, "Oh...Probably 7 of your earth months."

"No, Coran. I mean.....How long have we been out here, and how long has it been on earth?" Facing the ginger man now, I saw his expression become that of confusion. "It's....time is different out here. Earth runs on it's own Measurements. A minute is 60 seconds. There are 60 minutes in an hour. 24 hours in day. 365 days in a year. But...You all run on different time. These units of time everyone out here seems to have agreed on run slower than our measurements on earth. A tick is slower than a second. You say 7 earth months, but that's just a guess. It could be 8 or 9, with how backed up time would be." The ginger mans expression softened a bit, and with a swipe of his hand the map closed. "Lance, The measures may be a bit off, but I hardly think anything drastic could have happened in this time frame." He placed a hand on my shoulder and said, "Why don't you walk this off, hm? Clear your head; You'll need your focus for tomorrows Training."

So off I went, Sort of aimlessly wandering the castle halls. I decided to maybe go to the Training deck. I'm not one for intense extra training, but Keith does it when there's not much better to do, so how boring could it be? Besides, getting to beat up that stupid gladiator would relive some of the hopeless aggression. Or at least, I would be setting up the Gladiator if I hadn't found that said mullet haired jerk had beaten me here. He must have caught me in his peripheral vision, as he called a halt to the training program. Slinging a towel around his neck and grabbing a bottle of water (that I swear he pulled out of thin air), He gave me a questioning look.

"I uh. I just need to....punch things, right now." I said, glancing past him at the fallen Gladiator. "Punch things? You? You're more the type to shoot holes in a wall." Keith said, lightly kicking the androids body absentmindedly. "I've got things on my mind, Keith. I don't have the focus to shoot without injuring anyone." I walked past him a bit, prodding the machine with my foot as it continue to lay limp on the floor. Keith's eyes met mine for a moment, and with a thoughtful look he asked, "Would it have anything to do with you bailing at dinner?"

"I mean...yeah but....Why would you care?" I shifted my gaze to the far wall of the room. "We're a team, Lance. A team that's responsible for the safety of the Universe. We can't do that if one of us falls off the rails, so if there's something on your mind, you should speak up about it." Somehow, Keith ended up in front of me without my Notice. I took his words in for a moment, and in my current state of mind, they sounded a lot more like team maintenance than a real attempt to console me. "Keith, I highly doubt you really care about whats going on in my head right now. Just leave me alone to beat this gladiator, ok?" "Lance, I'm trying to help you. Just tell me what's wrong, and maybe I can help you clear your head a bit."

"You wanna know what my problem is, Keith?! My _problem_ is that we've been out here for almost a year now. My _problem_ , is that we know nothing of what's happened back at home during this time.-" "THIS again?! Lance, You're not gonna see home for a LONG TIME. Get used to that fact." Anger surging through me, I shoved Keith back, making him trip over the Gladiator and land on the floor. With a bit of a growl in my voice I said, "Listen, just because you don't have anyone waiting for you back home doesn't mean you can be an insensitive prick to those of us who do!" As I stormed off, I noticed Shiro had appeared in the room; Though I made no move to acknowledge him after an outburst like _that_.

***  
\-----------  
***

Back in the Training Deck, Keith sat still on the floor, blinking a couple of times and trying to process what just happened. "What was that about?" Shiro's voice brought Keith back to reality, and a hand was offered to help him up. Grabbing hold of his metallic hand he said, "I would try to tell you but...did you HEAR that last sentence?! What. the. Hell. Of all the low blows....Of all the time to even make them....What gives him the right to just /say/ that? And all I did was ask him why he's in such a sour mood!" Shiro let out a sigh, shaking his head in disbelief of the argument that had played out before him, but hardened his gaze on Keith. "I know you and Lance don't get along that easily, and I know that comment of his was heavily unwarranted, but you need to go find him and the two of you need to figure this out. Tonight, Tomorrow, I don't care when. But you two need to patch this up before we find ourselves in another territory fight with the Galra."

Nodding, Keith stalked off to go find the current bane of his exis- erm...Lance. For a moment, Keith hated Voltron's dependency on the paladins being on good terms with each other. How was he supposed to confront Lance? The blue paladin sure as hell didn't deserve an apology after that comment of his. All Keith even knew of the situation was that the other boy was getting homesick again; which at this point felt like a pity party more than anything. But, walking through the halls, on a mission, Keith didn't even spare a glance to anyone he passed.

Soon, He found himself at the door to Lances room, unsure of whether or not he really wanted to do this now. But he didn't get to decide, as the door slid open and he was met by a surprisingly less angry Lance. Neither boy said a word as Lance stepped away from the door and further into the room, Keith following behind. "I'm uh..Sorry, for what I said." Lance sort of flopped onto his bed. "I just tend to make low blows when I'm all worked up." Keith stood by the bed, a bit stunned that lance would apologize so soon into the conversation. Here he'd been worried he'd have to pry those words from the boy...Which meant something really was wrong with him.

"Lance...What you said hurt. A lot. Like...where did that even come from, man?....I know that outburst wasn't about me, though. Dude Just...talk to me." He heard Lance sigh, and the Blue paladin motioned for him to sit on the bed. Taking a seat, he watched Lance as he began to speak. "Keith, this isn't just Homesickness anymore. It's worrying about how things are changing while we're out here. How much time has really passed while we've been gone? How old is everyone now? Did I miss the birthday's of my little cousins, nieces and nephews? Has my Grandmother made it through these last few months? There's just....So much lost time."

Keith eye's narrowed a bit in a questioning manner. "So...Time is the problem?" The worry didn't quite make sense to Keith; there was never any reason for him to even remember how much time had passed. "Yes? Yes and No? I don't.....I don't know, man. Just...The more I think about how long we've been out here, the more it occurs to me that....Everyone will have moved on. Keith.....When we get back to earth, If we ever do.....My Family will have moved on without me." The deep-seated sadness in Lance's voice was almost to much to bare. Lance was the most vulnerable Keith had ever seen him; his usual smirk and the spark in his eyes were both gone, leaving a solemn frown and a dark cloud of rain in his eyes. Something in Keith wanted very much to be the person to wipe all this heartache away, but...

"I don't....I don't expect you to get it, Keith. I'm not expecting you to help, either. You can't, really. And just....I'm sorry, about earlier." Lance tried to push himself off the bed, but Keith grabbed hold of his arm and pulled him back. "What the he-" Lances words were muffled when his face connected with Keith's chest. "Stay. Sit here, and get it _all_ out of your system. Lance....You were right. I _don't_ have anyone for me back home. But I have all of you. You guys....You're my family, now. Family are supposed to be there for each other, right? So just.....i don't know....cry or something, if you have to." Keith was staring at the wall of the Room when lance brought his head back up and properly situated himself against the raven haired male.

"Keith..." Lance wanted to say something, but his mind couldn't even form words. The thought....The Idea that someone he truthfully thought hated him to some extent....That he was trying to really comfort him? Without realizing it, tears had started to form in his eyes, and Lance found himself burying his face against Keith's shoulder. The somewhat smaller male jerked his head down at the feeling of the little drops leaking into his shirt. Keith hadn't expected Lance to _actually_ start....crying. He let out a sigh and wrapped his arms around his fellow paladin, slowly rubbing in circles along his back as his crying shook his small frame.

The pair stayed that way, Lance eventually falling asleep, and Keith not having the heart to try and move him. Shiro stopped by the room, Pidge in tow, and the little gremlin took pictures for "future blackmail". Nobody brought it up the morning, when the two exited the Blue paladin's room. Coran had spared a few Glances towards Lance, who seemed to respond with reassuring smiles. Allura seemed confused by the looks and Pidge's weird grin at her laptop, but was simply glad Lances disappearance the night before seemed to be resolved. Only Keith knew the extent of Lance's fears..... Only Keith knew that Lance, was Afraid of time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please let me know how I've done; I'm always looking for ways to grow as a writer.


End file.
